A large number of fans are filmmakers as well as film viewers. Can you talk a little bit about your experiences behind the camera as well as in front of it. ^ Uh… you’re saying that’s your first question?
Sure ^ Uh, you want a list? What do you want?
Let’s talk a little bit about some of your earlier Super 8 short films from way back in Michigan, like “Cleveland Smith,” “Torro Torro Torro,” “The Blind Waiter.” ^ You’re gonna have to be specific. I mean, we did 50 of those. We all did different things in those. Some of us directed. Some of us produced. Some of us were in them. It was a whole thing – a hodge-podge.
What about directing in particular? Do you enjoy directing? I know you’ve got “Finalysis,” which is your documentary. ^ Yeah, I did that, and I’ve been directing television since ‘94.
Do you enjoy it? ^ Very much so. You know, the thing is, we started doing everything. None of us said, “I’m just gonna be an actor,” “I’m just gonna be a director,” “I’m just gonna be a producer.” Whoever put up the most money became a producer. Sam Raimi was in as many as he directed, you know, and he was just as funny as anybody. And there’s later that you find your niche. I’ve always been interested in behind the scenes as well and started directing “Hercules” and “Xena” in ‘94, and then I just did a couple “VIP” episodes not that long ago. It’s been fun to do that, and I’ve co-produced all the “Evil Dead” movies so I’m very used to going back and forth.
Is “Night Man” the most recent feature you’ve done? ^ No, that’s incorrect. You gotta be real careful about that stuff. If you want real information, go to my website. Don’t got to IMDb. IMDb is only about 80% accurate. That movie was never made.
When was the last one you did? Was it “Finalysis”? ^ I never directed a feature film.
Are you looking to direct one? ^ Uh, looking and actually doing it are two different things. Yeah, that’d be nice, because if you can direct television, then you can certainly direct a movie. A movie is much quicker.
Let’s talk about filmmaking now with digital video and desktop editing software. ^ Well, I sure as hell wish I had it when I was in high school. We still had to do rewinds and little b-words. Sound was not synchronized and the picture was 18 frames in advance of the picture. It was really very, very difficult. You had to go to K-Mart and drop it off and hope that it came out ten days later, and mixing sound was really difficult. I say, kids have it too easy today. But I think it’s a fantastic tool. The good news is that it allows Tom, Dick and Harry to make a movie. The bad news is that it doesn’t mean that they necessarily should. And you still have to learn your craft. People love to jump out and shoot a feature film right away.
Let me ask you about the genre that you have become known for. I’m from Columbus, Ohio, which is where you’re going to be this weekend at a 24-hour Horror Movie Marathon. You’ve reached kind of a legendary status with a lot of the fans in the horror/fantasy/sci-fi genre. Do you enjoy that? ^ You see, that’s somebody else’s term. That’s not my term. I’m an actor, you know. I just did “Shane” as a play in Ohio. I just played Elvis in a movie. So I don’t look at myself as being a horror actor. I leave that to the pundits to decide. I’m just an actor. I’ve done a lot more stuff that has nothing to do with Evil Dead than Evil Dead. A lot of these guys are convinced that if you’ve done one horror movie, then that’s all you’ve ever done. I think there’s a great irony in the fact that the movie where I had the least experience gets the most exposure. You know, I’ve done a lot of television, which is about as mainstream as you can get. I don’t know. Perception is whatever people make of it.
Does that bother you at all? ^ It doesn’t bother me because guys who are into like horror movies and stuff, that’s all they know. I’ll meet guys at book signings that have never seen the Dead movies, and they’re rabid fans of “Brisco” or “Hercules,” so to me, I get a broader picture actually than you do. So nothing bothers me because people can perceive whatever they’d like as long as they buy the book. As long as you buy the video, you can call me whatever you want.
Let me ask you about your influences in comedy. Obviously the Three Stooges is a big one. ^ Sure. ‘Cause pain is funny. Girls don’t think that pain is funny, but guys think that pain is funny.
Well, who’s your favorite Stooge? ^ Shemp. Yeah. Curly’s too easy. Curly’s too obvious, but Shemp is the ugliest man on the planet, and he does crap that just cracks me up. I think Shemp is really good, a really talented guy.
Get the rest of the interview in part three of BRUCE CAMPBELL: HAIL TO A B-MOVIE LEGEND>>>
